"Let's win the country and the polls", the call of Valencianism on a pre-electoral Ninth of October

Valencia"There is a match," defended the president of Acció Cultural, Anna Oliver. "I am optimistic, with the DANA we won the streets," added Gemma Pasqual, president of the Societat Coral El Micalet. "In 2023 some people stayed home, we hope they have learned their lesson," concluded Antonio Royo, delegate of the Plataforma per la Llengua at the traditional October Ninth demonstration, the Day of the Valencian Country, which this year saw a turnout of 2,000 people according to the Spanish government delegation and a clearly pre-electoral slogan: "Let's win the country".

If the elections are not brought forward, next May the Valencians will have to decide whether to revalidate the PP and Vox majority or opt to return to a progressive executive. This crossroads is beginning to permeate everything, and this year also the celebration of the October Ninth, which has been marked by the publication of different polls, including those of the newspapers Levante and El Mundo. In both cases, the PP and Vox would retain the government of the Generalitat, and the popular party would overcome the wear and tear from their management of the DANA. In the first, the PP would grow by one deputy, up to 41 representatives, Vox would obtain the same (13) and the PSPV would gain three and reach 34. Compromís would be the big loser, as it would lose four and remain at 11. However, if the Valencianists joined forces with Sumar, Esquerra Unida and Podem they would obtain 14 seats, but, even so, they would not prevent the PP and Vox from maintaining the absolute majority. On the other hand, El Mundo foresees a setback for the PP, which would go from 40 representatives to 33-36, and the PSPV would drop from the current 31 to 23-25. The opposite situation to that of Compromís, which would grow from 14 to 21-23. Vox would also increase, and would go from 13 to 16-18.

A good reader of polls and aware that if nothing moves too much he can benefit from it, the head of the Council, Juanfran Pérez Llorca, has opted for a complacent speech that has not included any demand to strengthen self-government. Nothing outside the lowest common denominator set during recent years, whether with progressive or conservative executives, and, above all, nothing that would anger the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who has not yet officialized Llorca's candidacy to revalidate the position. "We must demand fair financing, the water that our countryside needs, the infrastructure that our companies demand; the resources that our municipalities need and the essential investments," he enumerated, ignoring that he rejected the 3.669 billion more per year that the agreement between the PSOE and ERC for a new model of regional financing entailed.

To find differences with the demands of progressive governments like the one headed until 2023 by Ximo Puig, one must look at the references to the organization of the State. Thus, if the socialist requested more autonomy and bet on a federal formula, the popular one has not asked for any change and has limited himself to praising the current statu quo. "Valencians without complexes, and no one's branch; Spaniards without doubts, and Europeans without reservations", on one hand, and that one must work "without making noise and without asking for permission", on the other, have been his only words in this area. In the same line, he has not defended any measure that prevents the continuous decline in the use of Valencian. "The language asks for nothing more than the complicity of affection", he affirmed, before citing another common place: "Our traditions have no owners: they belong to everyone". Mind you, the speech was delivered entirely in Valencian, unlike the bilingualism that his predecessors, Carlos Mazón and Ximo Puig, bet on.

Protection of the encampment for the right to housing

Upon finishing the institutional ceremony at the Palau de la Generalitat, the public representatives moved to the doors of the Valencia City Hall to begin the traditional civic procession. This year the event was marked by the political tension generated in Ceuta and by the eviction and subsequent death of Maricarmen Abascal. In fact, a large police deployment surrounded the encampment for the right to housing, located in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento in Valencia. The device protected the campers from the aggressions of the ultra groups that have habitually participated in the civic procession since the Transition and that on other occasions have benefited from a lesser police presence or their passivity.